Using Pyroscience Sensors to measure Growth and mortality in the marine calcifier Globigerina bulloides – UiT, The Arctic University of Norway

Collecting specimens for culture (image: Alan James Burns)

The marine calcifier Globigerina bulloides is a significant contributor to the global carbon cycle and an important tool for studying past ocean-climate interactions through e.g., changes in the geochemistry of its fossil shells. Despite the widespread applications of the species, however, there are extensive knowledge gaps surrounding its biological behaviours and life cycle, potentially creating significant uncertainties in scientific applications.

One of these uncertainties is the presence of a potential coupling between growth rate, mortality, and diet, which could have a significant impact on shell cycling through the water column and geochemistry.

The researchers designed a set of live culturing experiments to be carried out in summer 2023, to closely monitor how diet, growth and mortality relate to one another, and subsequently investigate how these parameters impact the geochemistry of their shells. Pyroscience Firesting Pro (FSPRO-4), pH and Oxygen miniprobes ( PHROBSC-PK8T andOXROBSC ) and the Pt100 temperature probes (TSUB21) were used in these experiments.

Healthy specimen of G. bulloides after one week in culture. All chambers are filled with cytoplasm, spines are present, and rhizopods are extended (image: Freya Sykes)

These new growth results will improve understanding of calcification and the life cycle of G. bulloides, and thus their contribution to the global carbon cycle, while also offering necessary insight into how biological factors can impact the geochemistry of fossil shells used for past ocean reconstructions.

The full application paper can be found here – Growth and mortality in the marine calcifier – PyroScience GmbH